Charli Pascoe has been selected to represent Australia as goalkeeper in the Australian School Futsal under-19s youth team which will be touring USA in July.
The 16-year-old will go into intense training in Portland before heading to Las Vegas for the three-day US championships.
It’s a self-funded opportunity of a lifetime and Charli’s Mum, Kellie Bush, is hoping for support from the community.
“We’ll be holding a trivia night in February to help fund the trip so she is able to live her dream – this is a lifetime experience,” she said.
Also, Northlakes Toukley Rotary Club is backing Charli through its Community Raffle program – https://www.raffletix.com.au/?ref=kduzb&sref=gzdb6hzh – and donations can be made on the Australian Sports Foundation page – https://asf.org.au/projects/to-make-charlis-dream-come-true
Charli found her way on to the national team when The Australian Futsal Association held trials for 2022 School State Championships under-16s, and as there was no Central Coast women’s team, she trialled with Northern NSW team.
She was selected to play goalie, followed by training in Newcastle for competition in Brisbane last September where she earned her spot in the Australian team.
Charli also made it into the under-16s Northern NSW team for the National Club Futsal Championships held this month in Sydney.
The student at Tumbi Umbi campus of Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College has a deep passion for sport and over the years she’s represented schools in soccer, rugby union and netball.
When she was 14 Charli was the youngest player to take field when she was goalie in the under-19s soccer team for The Entrance campus of the College.
She was then introduced to Futsal and has been playing for the past three years in her school team.
In 2020 and 2021 the school made the state finals but due to Covid the competitions were cancelled, but in 2022 made it through to the second round.
Charli was recognised and asked to trial for the Central Coast school state team.
For the past four years she’s played netball on Saturdays and coached an under-8s team for two years, umpired for three years and won a grand final in 2022.
On Sundays Charli played goalie in club soccer, being runners-up in the 2020 and 2022 grand final.
Apart from Charli’s sporting prowess, she’s also had great achievements in public speaking and was a student leader in Year 6 at Brooke Avenue Public School.
She took dance lessons from age three to 12 and performed in many concerts, eisteddfods and national dance competitions, winning multiple awards over the years.
Sue Murray